Dispensing container



c. W. ELBOW DISPENSING CONTAINER April! 21, 1936. v

m INVENTOR,

i wyuj. chad Maa Filed Feb. 11, 1935 ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The ordinary flat tobacco can has a hinged. top which is adapted to swing back or to open position on a pivot extending lengthwise of one of its long sides. Consequently in filling a pipe the top must be fully open to avoid stattering the tobacco and even then spilling of the tobacco is possible as an incident of overfilling the pipe because there is no expedient for regulating the'flow.

According to this invention the can is provided with an opening in one end as usual but the closure therefor is pivoted preferably on an axis extending crosswise rather than lengthwise of the end of the can and there is means to effect the opening movement of the closure which extends to and so as to be subjected to actuation at the other end of the can, the system comprising said closure and means being preferably spring-urged to the position in which the closure is closed and the closure taking preferably the form of a chute. Further, in the preferred form said means acts as an agitator which will serve when it is moved to break up masses of the tobacco particles adhering together. While my invention is applicable to containers for tobacco it will be understood that it may be applied to containers for other materials in granular or other divided form.

The drawing shows,

In Fig. 1 a side elevation, partly in section, of one form of a container embodying the inven tion;

Fig. 2 being a section on line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 a side elevation, partly in section, of another form;

Fig. 4 shows the blank from which the plunger is formed; and

Fig. 5 is a plan of such plunger.

Fig. 1 shows a fiat tobacco can similar to cans now in common use except that it may have a top I which is permanently closed, said top and the bottom 2 being joined to the transversely elongated body 3 of the can in any way, as by the seams shown.

The bottom of the can has an opening 4 extending from near one end of such bottom toward (here nearly to) its other end and approximately as wide as the distance between those walls of the body which have the major area. This opening is to be closed by a closure constructed as a chute, to wit, by providing a blank of sheet material with opposite lateral wings and then bending the blank on parallel lines so that the wings 5a will upstand relatively to the intervening part, of the blank. The chute is resilient, at least as to its said part or bottom, and this quality may be imparted, if it is of metal, by tempering. Each end of the bottom projects beyond the wings, as at 51) and 5c. The chute is of course as wide as the opening 4, which it occupies. Its projecting portion 5b laps the lip 2a forming one end remnant of the bottom 2 and may be secured thereto in any manner, as by a rivet 6. Its projecting portion 50 underlaps the other lip 2b of the bottom and is normally held thereagainst due to the tendency of the resilient bottom of the chute to remain fiat or conform to a true plane. In order'to prevent the contents from entering between the wings or sides of the chute and the side walls of the can of the major area the wings may be deflected to bear against or lie close to them as shown in Fig. 2.

For actuating the chute there is a flat bar I forming a plunger. This plunger is formed of sheet metal and is connected to the chute at one end and projects through the top of the can at its other end. The bar is flat and is arranged with its broader side faces facing lengthwise of the axis of flexion of the closure. The connection between the plunger and chute is a pivotal connection here formed by lugs la on the lower end of the plunger passed through a hole 5:1 in one of the wings of the chute and bent 01f. Its upper end forms a handle which extends through and is guided in aslot la in a portion of the top l which may desirably be depressed as shown. Since the slot extends in a line intersecting said axis of flexion of the closure it confines the bar to a position in which said faces remain facing as stated when the bar is depressed to flex the closure. The plunger is nearer that one of the sides of the lesser area toward which the chute discharges so as least to obstruct the discharge of the contents; and so as not to obstruct the fall of the contents it has its lower end portion, at least, deflected toward the point of connection with the chute, as at lb. The plunger is formed to agitate the contents thus: The blank (Fig. 4) from which it is formed is slitted at opposite sides at preferably non-opposing points and the material 1c between the slits at each side is bent alternately in opposite directions so as to form wings or blades in different planes (Fig. 5).

The normally closed chute is opened to the extent required for the desired volume of discharge by pressing upon the upper end of the plunger; it is shown partially opened in Figs. 1 and 2.

The construction in Fig. 3 is generally the same as that already described excepting that here the plunger 1 and chute 5 are rigidly connected, so as in effect to be unitary, by rivets 8. Since in this form the plunger is tilted when depressed the slot I a is suitably extended.

It will be understood that in use the can is held in one hand With the lower left corner in Fig. 1 or Fig. 3 over the pipe bowl or the like and by a finger of such hand the plunger is depressed to depress the chute to the required degree to discharge the quantity desired. On each such action and return of the plunger the wings or blades 10 agitate the contents, so that there is always a free discharge thereof. If the contents be massed at the right of the plunger said contents can be brought into its range by jarring the can.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. In combination, a container having a transversely elongated body and top and bottom walls arranged in planes substantially perpendicular to the body and conforming in contour to the cross section of the body, the bottom wall having an opening reaching approximately from end to end and from side to side thereof, a closure for said opening of resilient sheet material also reaching approximately from end to end and from side to side of said bottom wall and normally lying in a plane nearly coincident with that of the bottom wall and thus closing the opening and being rigidly aflixed at one end thereof to the container, and a plunger arranged substantially parallel with the longitudinal central axis of the body and engaged with said closure at said other end of the latter, the top wall having an aperture penetrated by the plunger and confining it against displacement in a direction transverse of said closure.

2. In combination, a container having a transversely elongated body and top and bottom walls arranged in planes substantially perpendicular to the body and conforming in contour to the cross section of the body, the bottom Wall having an opening reaching approximately from end to end and from side to side thereof, a closure for said opening of resilient sheet material also reaching approximately from end to end and from side to side of said bottom wall and normally lying in a plane nearly coincident with that of the bottom wall and thus closing the opening and being rigidly affixed at one end thereof to and at its other end underlapping the bottom wall, and a plunger arranged substantially parallel with the longitudinal central axis of the body and engaged with said closure at said other end of the latter, the top wall having an aperture penetrated by the plunger and confining it against displacement in a direction transverse of said closure.

3. In combination, a container having a bottom opening and a top wall, a normally closed closure for said opening formed of resilient sheet material and rigidly affixed to the container laterally of and normally closing the opening and adapted to flex outwardly to expose the opening, and a flat bar engaged with the closure and extending up through the container and its top wall and arranged with its broader faces facing lengthwise of the axis of fiexion of the closure, said top Wall having a slot extending in a line intersecting said axis and receiving and confining the bar to a position in which its said faces remain so facing when the bar is depressed to flex the closure.

4. In combination, a container having a transversely elongated body of constant dimensions from top to bottom and top and bottom walls arranged in planes substantially perpendicular to the body and conforming in contour to the cross section of the body, the bottom wall having an opening reaching approximately from end to end and from side to side thereof, a closure for said opening connected to the container only adjacent one end of the opening, and a plunger connected to the closure adjacent the other end of said opening and projecting through the top wall and having projecting blades each extending in a vertical plane and said blades being arranged at difierent elevations.

CHARLES W. ELBOW. 

